


Little Town

by Nixxie



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Teen Titans (Animated Series), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Blood and Violence, Character Development, Character Study, Dick Grayson & Wally West (BROTP), Established Relationship, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, Fighting, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Jason Todd & Donna Troy (BROTP), Jason Todd & Roy Harper (BROTP), Lots of side pairings, M/M, Mental Illness, Mentions of homophobia, Physical Abuse, Sexual Content, Slow Build, Smoking, Triggers, mentions of biphobia, no superpowers, panic and anxiety attacks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-15
Updated: 2015-07-15
Packaged: 2018-04-09 11:08:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4346237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nixxie/pseuds/Nixxie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>///Currently on hiatus****</p><p>Jason Todd, a born and raised Gotham street rat had only really one plan for his life. Find a garage and work as a mechanic for the rest of his days. </p><p>But when his best friend Roy Harper manages to talk him into applying to college, he humors him; never once did he actually think he'd be accepted. So he finds himself driving 9 hours out of Gotham to attend Rockmont University; not expecting much more than invaded privacy, annoying people, loss of sleep, and the possibility of increasing his smoking habits.</p><p>There he meets Dick Grayson; an Olympic hopeful, with a bright smile and a troubled past. And oh, is it ever a clash of different interests and morals. But eventually, their relationship forms into a bond that is not likely broken.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Town

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, this story will have a slow and gradual build. There will be lots of side pairings, as seen in the tags section. I want to focus a lot on character development, and character study; particularly on Jason and Dick. So there will be a lot of my personal head canons thrown in. Eventually, we'll get to the more explicit sides of relationships. But it'll take time.
> 
> Fair warning now, I usually take forever to update. This is more of a hobby than anything else.
> 
> For now, I'm going to assume this story will reach about 20 chapters, but this is subject to change.
> 
> Also, the title might end up changing too, just fyi.

Jason Todd wasn’t sure what in nine circles of hell had possessed him to actually enroll in mechanical engineering at Rockmont University. But as he sat in the drivers’ seat of his snugly packed black 71’ Chevelle SS with his trucker mouth best friend Roy Harper, he instantly realized it was all the ginger’s fault. The prick currently had the window down with one arm hanging out, while the other pillaged a bag of potato chips. At the moment, Roy was talking about something- probably girls, or was soon to get onto the topic of girls. Jason wasn’t listening.

“Jay, c’mon bro! We’re goin’ to university! This is meant to be the time of our lives. Even though it’s probably going to put us in debt for years and worsen my alcoholism- which by the way, when we get there we’re finding the first party so we can hit it. Maybe even pick up a couple chicks.”

See, it always goes back to women sooner or later.

Jason scoffed and placed his right hand at the top of the steering wheel, while he propped his elbow up on the door to run his left hand through his hair. To be honest, he would have been more than happy to just find a garage and work there for the rest of his life. He didn’t need much, hell- he’d never had much to begin with. Now he was paying good money to get a degree that probably wasn’t even going to do anything for him in the long run, what with the unemployment rates only getting higher. At least he knew that if he found a garage he’d be doing something that he’d always known how to do. Fix things.

He wasn’t even interested in the social aspect of university either. Jason couldn’t give a flying shit about parties, and hook ups. Man he liked tits and ass as much as the next guy, but not enough to go out of his way to find a one night stand. Okay to be quite honest, relationships and the like just didn’t appeal to him in the slightest.

“I’m tellin’ ya bud, this is going to be a good year.” Roy hadn’t shut up for nearly the past hour.

“Your stupid voice is giving me a headache.” Jason groaned.

“Get used to it roomie!” the redhead chuckled as he stuffed his face with chips again.

That’s right; they were going to be roommates. It wouldn’t be that much of a change from their previous arrangement. For the past two years they’d been sharing an apartment, but they at least had their own rooms. Now, it was one room on a floor with twenty other people. Jason groaned at the idea of the lack of privacy and intruding presence of so many people. Jason Todd is indeed a man who enjoys his space.

“It’s cheaper to have a roommate, and there’s no way I’ll be with anyone else. At least I know your level of stupid.” He reasoned.

“Did you get that job?” Roy asked, “You know, at the one of two of the only garage’s in the entire fucking town.”

“They asked if I drove a car, and when I told them it’s a 71’ Chevelle they said I had the job over the phone.” Jason laughed lightly.

Small town people know their cars. And a nearly perfect looking, black with red racing stripes, 1971 Chevelle SS was sure to turn a couple heads. Fuck it, why be modest- the car was a beautiful sight to behold. Man, Jason loved his car. He’d put a hell of a lot of work into it. The original owner was some old geezer that didn’t have any kids or grand kids to give the car to, so when he put it up for sale and Jason happened to read the add on the side of a telephone pole he’d gone to check it out. All the car needed was a couple touch ups in the paint, some upgrades in the engine, new brake pads and some leather work inside.

Something must’ve appealed to the old man as he’d watched Jason inspect the car. In the end, the man had given it to Jason for free, the only catch being that he wanted to see the work Jason had put into it to make it perfect again. Of course Jason obliged, and the old man was almost in tears to see his once prized possession looking better than it had new.

Roy laughed too, and soon fell back into his pointless conversation with a nonresponsive Jason. Meanwhile, Jason just drove and occasionally added his two cents to Roy’s rampant stupidity. Sometimes Roy would say something particularly stupid, and other times he’d come out with something that would make even a PhD physicist think about. Thus reminding Jason, again, that his best friend is actually the smartest person he knows. But he’d never tell him that.

 

… … …

 

The entire family had been called together to wish Dick Grayson a farewell before he went off to Rockmont University. Dick was close to all of them. And begin Dick, he very nearly had tears in his eyes as he hugged and said goodbye to everyone. He’d told himself he needed space, so instead of accepting his offer to Gotham University, he’d chosen to attend the much smaller and further away Rockmont Univeristy upstate. He’d also been awarded a place on the schools varsity gymnastics team. So as he’d planned, he would be busy with classes and in his downtime he’d be busy with training and competing.

The first in the line of people to say goodbye to was his adopted younger brother Tim. Now sixteen, and finally starting to grow out of his lanky teenaged phase, he stood nearly as tall as Dick. No doubt by the time Dick got back for Thanksgiving, the kid would stand at equal height to him or even taller.

“Call sometime?” Tim asked, his voice sounding tight.

Dick pulled him into a tight embrace. “Of course, and you can call me anytime you want. I’ll be home before you know it. Take care of Dami.”

When Tim pulled away, Dick looked to Damian to see the kid with his arms crossed over his chest with an indignant pout as he glared up at him.

“I don’t need taking care of.” The petulant ten year old nearly growled.

“Sure, of course you don’t pipsqueak.” Dick chuckled as he kneeled and pulled the rigid preteen into his arms.

For all the kid whined and tried to avoid contact, he did hug back. Dick knew that Damian would never say it, but he’d miss him. The kid was stubborn, more so than any person he’d ever met. And sometimes he was damn difficult and all Dick could do was restrain himself from smacking the kid upside the head. But Damian was his younger brother, again adopted younger brother, but a brother none the less. He cared for the little shit, and he’d miss him too. When they broke apart, and Dick stood from kneeling he ruffled the kids’ hair only to get a scathing look from the brat.

Next in line was Cassandra, they said their goodbyes quickly. It went the same with Steph.

When he reached Barbara, she gave him a warm smile and wrapped him in a tight hug. Some part of Dick would always love this girl. But for various reasons they’d called it quits. But they were still very close friends.

“Call me when you get there?” she asked, as she held him close.

“Sure thing Babs.”

“And don’t you dare forget about us here in Gotham. This city, this family will always be your home.”

When Dick pulled back Barbara had tears in her eyes. And she leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek. Barbara didn’t say anything more as she pulled away and stood to the side with Steph and Tim. Dick tried to offer her a comforting smile before he turned to Alfred.

“You will be missed master Richard.” Alfred reached out to offer a handshake.

But Dick raised an eyebrow, pushed aside the older mans’ hand and pulled him into a brief hug. He pulled away and smiled at the elderly butler.

“I’ll miss you Alfred.”

The last person in the group was Bruce. Dick’s adoptive father, and probably the biggest stick in the mud in all of Gotham. Seriously, the man needed to work on his emotional constipation.

When Dick had initially decided that he wanted to go to university, after spending the last three years after graduating high school pursuing his interests in sports he’d decided that going to university was probably a good idea. Although his gymnastics career was going particularly well, and he was expected to eventually make the country’s Olympic team, he figured he could still do all the training needed while he got an education.

His high school marks had been beyond exceptional, with an average of almost 98%. So when he’d retaken the SATs and gotten a 4.0 all the universities he’d applied to were eager to get his attention. That and the fact he was an Olympic hopeful was like a giant red target on his forehead. Gotham University is one of the most prestigious universities in all the country, and he’d been accepted. Dick was ecstatic, same with Tim and Barbara, but the more he thought about university, the more he realized it was time he got out on his own.

Dick would always love his ragtag family, but part of making your way in the world is to learn how to be on your own. His family would understand. He would miss them greatly, but it was time. And Bruce hadn’t responded in the way Dick had hoped. He knew Bruce was very protective of all his kids, adopted or otherwise. But where everyone was supportive and encouraging, Bruce was stone cold. The man had a resting poker face that lately seemed to be his only expression. Dick guessed that Bruce was just being skeptical of his choice to attend a much smaller, lesser known university that also happened to be a good nine hours from Gotham.

Dick offered a hand to Bruce as a way to say farewell. Bruce didn’t even bother to shake it. He just nodded, didn’t say anything, and then turned to return to the manor. Dick watched him go, and shook his head slightly. If Bruce was going to be like that, then that was his choice. He sighed, then turned around to look to his packed dark blue 2015 Dodge Charger.

“Well, now or never!” he pulled out his keys and pressed the button that unlocks the doors.

He got in the driver’s seat of his car, rolled down the window and waved to everyone.

“Drive safe!” called out Barbara as she waved.

Dick smiled at all their faces. Then started the engine and began his nine hour drive to Rockmont. When he looked in the rear view mirror he could still see them all waving their goodbyes. He’d miss them. And chances are he’d call every other day. But he steeled himself, and looked to the future.

 _This is going to be a good year._ He told himself, knowing he probably had a goofy smile on his face.

 

… … …

 

It was nearly four when Jason pulled into the resident complex of Rockmon University. He’d left Gotham at seven am, so Jason would guess they arrived right on time. A woman in a bright yellow jacket was directing people in the proper directions. And as seeing Jason didn’t know where anything was just yet, he figured asking was his best bet.

He pulled his Chevelle up beside the woman, and rolled down his window. She was short and had short blonde hair pulled up into a high ponytail, a little plump, but all smiles and quite honestly the definition of adorable.

“Hey, where are you looking to go?” she asked, sounding rather enthusiastic.

“South College residence.” He answered.

She didn’t even need to think about her answer. “Follow this road right to the end. It’ll be the tallest grey building.”

He nodded his thanks, then drove on to follow her directions. Cars were parked all along the road with families there helping to move their sons and daughters into residence. He took a moment to glance in his rear view mirror, and recognized the design of the car behind him. It was a deep blue, nothing too dark or too light. And it also happened to be the newest remake of the Dodge Charger. He smirked to himself, thinking that some rich boy probably got it as his grad present. When Jason glanced at Roy, he noticed the way Roy was particularly interested in a very tall, tanned looking woman with orange and red hair. When they passed by, Roy turned to Jason and placed a hand over his chest.

“Bro, I think I’m in love.”

“Jesus Christ.” Jason couldn’t hold back the laughter that escaped his mouth. He had tears in his eyes from laughing so hard, that he had to slow down lest he lose control of the car.

Just as the perky blonde had said, right at the end of the road a tall grey building with a sign saying ‘South Collage residence’ in bright yellow letters stood. Beside it, a large parking lot only about half filled could be found. Jason parked the car, got out with Roy and they went to find the residence check in.

Inside the building at the front desk, a small line-up had formed. So Jason guessed that this was probably the right place. Roy poked his shoulder to get his attention.

“I’m gonna go find the can.” He said, leaving Jason alone in line.

Jason didn’t bother to look around; he just wanted to get the room number so he could move in and avoid everyone. But that wasn’t going to happen apparently. Before he could pull out his phone to pretend he was busy, someone was trying to get his attention.

“Look at you, tall, dark and handsome.”

He looked up to see a tall and slender blonde woman with bright blue eyes, extending her hand out offering a handshake. Jason took her hand, more so just to be polite, and shook it.

“The name’s Isabel.” she chirped.

“Jason.”

She smiled sweetly at him, “Do you have a phone, so I can give you my number?”

She seemed nice, if not a little eager. But he saw nothing wrong with it, besides, it’s not like she’d have his number unless he texted or called her. So he pulled his phone out of his back pocket, and opened the contacts app. Then handed his phone to Isabelle, while she punched in her number he took a moment to look around the lobby of the residence building. He noted several large brown couches, a couple vending machines, and the way that everything seemed really shiny.

“Here you go!” she handed back his phone with another bright smile. “Call me sometime!”

She left him standing in line, and walked away with a bounce to her steps and a sway in her hips. Jason figured that she was actually rather cute. Maybe he would put the phone number to good use? He hadn’t even noticed Roy come back.

“Man, here I am talking about getting chicks, and you’ve already scored a number! And I bet’cha you didn’t even do anything to get it!” Roy punched his shoulder playfully.

Jason shook his head, but considered the possibility of actually calling her up. But he knew himself well enough to say he isn’t looking for anything- relationship or otherwise. He liked to be by himself, or about as by himself as he could be in this place of no privacy.

It only took a few more minutes, and then they both stood in front of the desk. The man behind the desk probably isn’t much older than Jason, but he wore the same bright yellow jacket that the woman before was wearing. The bright color clashed with the man’s darker skin tone. Jason noticed a name tag on his chest that read ‘Victor Stone’.

“Checking in?” he asked.

“Yeah, Jason Todd and numb nuts here is Roy Harper. We’re roommates.” Jason motioned to Roy with a tip of his head in his direction.

“Oh, shut up Jay.” Roy punched his shoulder again.

Victor smiled and laughed lightly as he searched through the several pages of names before him. Then he paused, read it over and stood to retrieve two sets of keys hanging from the wall behind him. He returned and handed one set to each Jason and Roy.

“You guys have room 10-6, on the tenth floor. There’s an elevator over there,” Victor pointed, and Jason followed it to see two elevator doors. “You can use it so you’re not climbing stair all day. If you have any questions, either ask your RA or ask me. Oh! And mail is down the hall to the left.”

Jason nodded his thanks, then lead the way back to his car. Together, he and Roy began the task of unpacking. Their first trip up was stopped a couple times on various other floors, and Jason silently cursed that they were assigned a room on the top floor. When they finally reached their door, Jason unlocked it and began to pile his stuff on the right side of the room.

The room was actually more spacious than Jason had anticipated. A large window brought in enough room to light up the entire room. There were two decent sized desks with chairs, two dressers, two closets and two beds. He guessed the room to be about 12 by 19 feet.

It took five trips to get both of their stuff completely unpacked and up to their room. Jason began unpacking his clothes first. He folded and placed his shirts in the top drawer of the three drawer dresser. Then his jeans in the second drawer, and any boxers socks or whatever else in the bottom drawer. Then using the few hangers he had, he hung his various hoodies and leather jackets up in the closet. His only other two sets of shoes; runners for the gym, and a pair of work boots went at the bottom of the closet.

When Jason glanced to the left he smirked to himself at the hurricane that had already overtaken Roy’s side of the room. Clothes were everywhere, and he was bending over the desk reaching to plug in his lap tops charger. Once in, he turned it on and started playing his music.

If there was at least one thing Jason and Roy had in common other than their past, it would be their music tastes. Rock music was the only way to go.

Jason continued to unpack; pulling out his sheets and Walmart comforter. He dressed the bed, and the moved on to pull out his laptop and other electronics. He found his power bar, plugged it in, then plugged his computer and phone charger in.

Next came his small collection of books. He liked the classics; such as, Pride and Prejudice, various Charles Dickens, To Kill a Mocking bird, The Great Gatsby, Into the Wild, 1984, and The Chrysalids. Books had always been a place of comfort for Jason; no matter what age he was he always enjoyed reading. He piled the books on his side of the window sill.

It didn’t take him very long to get settled, probably because he didn’t have very much to unpack. He was the type the liked things orderly, and without clutter. Roy on the other hand seemed within his natural habitat to lie on his bed, atop a pile of clothes and various other items playing his 3DS. He’d turned his green trucker hat backwards, and was so focused on the game that he bit his tongue that curved past his lips.

For a couple moments, Jason just sat in silence and checked the time on his phone. It read 10:45pm. By rights, he should be at least a little tired from the nine hour drive from Gotham but really he wasn’t. He stood and walked over to the window to gaze out at the view. The campus was almost completely surrounded by forest. And to be honest, Jason had never seen so much forest before. He’d lived in Gotham his entire life. Be it with his parents, or later on the streets. There was never any time to appreciate the scenery. He was beginning to think he might like the sort of isolation that small towns offered.

The sky was dark now, and Jason figured he should probably go check on his car. And while he was at it, have a quick smoke. So he grabbed his room keys, and phone and put them in his pocket.

“I’m going for a smoke.” He told Roy.

He took the elevator down, and entered the quiet lobby. Victor was seated behind the desk and it sounded like he was watching some kind of sports game because Jason could hear the yelling and cheering from an unseen tv screen. He left the lobby and walked out the front doors. Once outside, he made his way to his car. There, he unlocked the doors and reached under his drivers’ seat to fish out a cigarette and lighter.

He lit the cig, took a drag and looked around. The parking lot was quiet, and not very full. From what he’d seen of the campus thus far, this was the parking lot that everyone in residence was to share. Or at least it was the closest one to the string of four resident buildings; North, South, East, and West were aligned in their named directions. He figured it was just an easy way of keeping everything orderly. However, not very original. _But who was he to judge?_

The decision to come here in the first place was Roy’s idea. They’d spent a year working odd jobs and only just managing to pay for their shared apartment after they’d graduated high school. Then Roy had just mentioned college, and as a joke Jason said ‘sure’. Well didn’t he just put his foot in his mouth? So he applied to various community colleges, and universities. He’d done very well in high school, and also considerably well taking the SATs. He’d always had a knack for math and physics. Roy was the computer whiz- the damn guy hacked the school system as a graduation gag and turned the entire school site into a mock porn site. Jason still remembered how hard he’d laughed. The school never managed to trace it back to anyone. And the best part was, Roy had done it all on a school computer, but get this- it was the _principles_ computer! Just thinking about the whole act was cracking Jason up.

But yeah, university; he really hadn’t even considered the possibility of being accepted. So when he’d gotten his letter of ‘Congratulations’  that he’d been accepted on an academic scholarship to Rockmont University, he’d very nearly called to make sure no one was yanking his chain. He would be the first person in his family to go to college. Well, no one but Jason was around anymore to keep the Todd name going, but it’s the thought that counts.

Pausing his thoughts, he lifted the cig to his lips again and took a long drag. Smoking was something he’d started just before he’d gotten into high school. His dad smoked, his mom did worse things, he was a street rat- no one could blame him if he indulged in a couple puffs every once in a while. He’d never been a hardcore smoker, other than this one point in eleventh grade where he was smoking a pack every three days. It was Roy that helped him cut down. Now, smoking was just something he did to either pass the time, or if he really needed something to relax him. He hardly had two or three a month at this point. But if what he heard about the stress sure to come with all the classes and shit he was taking, maybe he'd end up smoking a little more than his usual.

Someone, a male, wearing dark jeans and a blue fitted v-neck was walking towards the parking lot while he held a phone to his ear. Jason didn’t mean to eavesdrop, and in his defense, the guy was speaking kinda loud.

“Babs, everything’s fine! I think you’d love my roommates- oh, and one of them, Wally, has a girlfriend her name is Artemis, you guys would be the best of friends.”

The dark haired guy walked right past Jason, not even noticing him leaned against his car. Jason took another drag as he casually watched the man continue on his marry way.

“Babs, put Tim on the phone.” The man said, as he fished around in his pockets probably looking for keys. When he found them, he pulled them out and pressed a button. Jason watched the 2015 Dodge Charger he’d seen before light up.

 _So that’s the rich kid_.

He scoffed to himself, as he was just about to finish his cigarette. He closed the door to his car and locked up. Then threw the bud on the ground, twisted the ball of his booted foot on it to put it out, then shoved his hands in his jean pockets before he returned to his room for the next eight months.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> And please leave a comment; tell me what you liked, what you didn't and what you think might happen in the future!
> 
> Till next time~


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